The Broccoli Angolotti with the "Hometown Vixen" at Maven Restaurant in San Francisco, Calif., is seen on Thursday, April 27th, 2012.

The Broccoli Angolotti with the "Hometown Vixen" at Maven Restaurant in San Francisco, Calif., is seen on Thursday, April 27th, 2012.

Photo: John Storey

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The Chinatown Duck Sliders with the "5 Spot" cocktail at at Maven Restaurant in San Francisco, Calif., is seen on Thursday, April 27th, 2012.

The Chinatown Duck Sliders with the "5 Spot" cocktail at at Maven Restaurant in San Francisco, Calif., is seen on Thursday, April 27th, 2012.

Photo: John Storey

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Chef David Kurtz makes the Asparagus and Farm Egg dish at Maven Restaurant in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, April 27th, 2012.

Chef David Kurtz makes the Asparagus and Farm Egg dish at Maven Restaurant in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, April 27th, 2012.

Photo: John Storey

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The bar at Maven Restaurant in San Francisco, Calif., is seen on Thursday, April 27th, 2012.

The bar at Maven Restaurant in San Francisco, Calif., is seen on Thursday, April 27th, 2012.

Photo: John Storey

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The Mayan Chocolate at Maven Restaurant in San Francisco, Calif., is seen on Thursday, April 27th, 2012.

The Mayan Chocolate at Maven Restaurant in San Francisco, Calif., is seen on Thursday, April 27th, 2012.

Photo: John Storey

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A couple enjoy a cocktail in the lounge in the mezzanine at Maven Restaurant in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, April 27th, 2012.

A couple enjoy a cocktail in the lounge in the mezzanine at Maven Restaurant in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, April 27th, 2012.

Photo: John Storey

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At Maven, food and drink make winning pairs

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With the growth of the cocktail culture, eating out is beginning to take on a new form and revising our view of what a restaurant is. This change repeatedly raises the same question: Is it a bar or a restaurant?

At Maven in San Francisco, which took over the space of RNM last December, the menu is divided into three sections: Distilled, Plated and Fermented. If you read from left to right, you have the suggested spirits, the food it goes with, and either a wine or beer pairing. The menu is limited to 10 items; the back of the menu features six "bites," several wines by the glass, and a list of draft and bottled beers.

The exceptional Chinatown duck sliders ($9 for two), a gooey mash of meat with shiitake mushrooms, bitter greens and bacon on a brioche bun, is designed for the 5 Spot ($11) made with aged rum, ginger, lime, maple, Thai basil and a hint of five-spice; it's a nice pairing, with the flavors in the food subtly echoed in the expertly prepared cocktail. The "fermented pairing" is La Maudite ($9), an amber red ale from Canada with enough strength to stand up to the food.

Not many people will religiously follow the suggestions; the plates are often small, and if you wanted to construct a meal and have a cocktail with each you'd probably stumble out the door. Yet if you want to drop in for a quick bite or two, it's a perfect place to start.

Experienced hands

Partners Jay Bordeleau and David Kurtz both have backgrounds as sommeliers. Bordeleau, who was the general manager at Beretta, handles the front; the kitchen is handled by Kurtz, who worked with Todd English at Olives when he was fresh out of Culinary Institute of America. Kurtz also worked front of the house at such places as Michael Mina and Aziza, and was general manager at Saison. Now he's back in the kitchen, and if my visits were any indication he's found his sweet spot.

What the pair is doing illustrates how the bar/dining concept has evolved in the past few years, becoming more defined and sophisticated.

To redesign the 64-seat space, they hired Gi Paoletti to install a de rigueur organic interior. The bar is redwood, and behind it is a rough cement wall with three large cutouts that contain all kinds of plants. Three long communal tables with black swivel stools fill the dining room up to the 7-seat chef's counter and open kitchen, defined by a lower ceiling that becomes the floor of the mezzanine.

The mezzanine contains a row of chairs, a narrow 9-seat counter overlooking the dining room, and a corner fireplace surrounded by contemporary sofas and low tables. Large windows overlook Haight and Steiner streets and help create a cheerful mood, connecting the modern interior to the sometimes retro neighborhood.

Skilled, sophisticated

With both partners versed in service, the staff is informed, friendly and enthusiastic. Service emulates many qualities of more expensive restaurants - plates are changed between courses, crumbs are repeatedly wiped away, and the staff engages diners to find out what they might need.

The food produced by Kurtz is both innovative and refined, filled with bold flavors that have come to define much of the sophisticated bar food now being produced in the Bay Area.

Broccoli agnolotti ($11/$18) are actually fat pillows of pasta filled with a chunky puree of the crucifer, lined up on an oblong plate with half moons of cipollini onions, dices of tasso ham and shavings of bright orange mimolette cheese, with florets of green cauliflower tucked in between. It's a dish that shows skill and respect for ingredients because every flavor is distinctive but adds to the whole. On one visit, the pasta was perfectly cooked and tender, but on another it was a little underdone at the edges. The dining room was busy that night, so I think the kitchen might have rushed the cooking a bit. Yet these errors are rare.

Dishes with vision

A savory tart ($11) was even more stylized because it wasn't a tart at all. The pastry was broken into pieces next to piles of marinated foraged mushrooms with thyme and puddles of house-made ricotta. Again, simple, but every ingredient came to the forefront.

Spears and ribbons of asparagus ($11) were the stars of another dish accented with ground smoked bread, smears of black garlic and sticks of pickled rhubarb, all crowned with a poached egg. The choice of ingredients again showed a real vision in the kitchen.

Another dish that highlights Kurtz's skill is Monterey calamari ($9), where a sauce with cilantro and ginger glazes the bottom of the plate, topped with gnocchi-shaped pieces of grilled calamari and breaded deep-fried tentacles.

Mr. Wiggles ($11), a cocktail with single-barrel bourbon, amaro and vermouth, was indeed a good pairing for the grilled flank steak ($24), with glazed baby turnips, a sauce enhanced with maple syrup, and squares of gratin made with garnet yams and potatoes. It could have been overpowering with all the sweet flavors, but the smoky meat was in harmony with the cocktail.

Drinks also rotated

Cocktails change with the menu. Mr. Wiggles, for example, was replaced by Devil's Halo ($10), a wonderfully smoky blend of scotch, vermouth, a cherry, bitter orange and a splash of absinthe. It was designed to go with the pork loin and belly ($25) with two generous hunks of juicy meat flanking an equally large portion of crisped belly with green garlic, baby artichokes and dollops of mascarpone.

Other larger plates included a seared arctic char ($23) with a smoky seafood broth with mussels, carrots and other root vegetables.

There is just one dessert - a Mayan chocolate brownie ($6) sprinkled with fiery red paprika, with sugar glazed walnuts and black cardamom ice cream that's thankfully subtle so it doesn't steal focus from the chocolate. You could also opt for Point Reyes blue cheese with spiced honey ($8).

Overall, Maven offers an experience that's as pleasant and balanced as the cocktails. You can enjoy a drink or a full dinner at the communal tables, and you might even make new friends among the diners crowded next to you.

Prices are based on main courses. When entrees fall between these categories, the prices of appetizers help determine the dollar ratings. Chronicle critics make every attempt to remain anonymous. All meals are paid for by The Chronicle. Star ratings are based on a minimum of three visits. Ratings are updated continually based on at least one revisit.

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